Six Pak nationals arrested off Jakhau coast

The six Pakistani nationals detained by the Coast Guard off Jakhau in Kutch district last evening were formally arrested on Sunday.

Coast Guard vessel ICGS Meerabai had intercepted Pakistani boat Al Rehmani two nautical miles inside Indian waters. They were brought to Okha on Sunday for a formal arrest by the police and subsequent joint interrogation by the various agencies. The arrested,all in the age group of 18-45 years,have claimed they are fishermen.

This is the second such incident in a fortnight and third since August,and comes at a time when President Pratibha Patil is on a three-day tour of Saurashtra. The Coast Guard said it has seized marine catch,vegetables and other eatables,soaps,hair oil and Pakistani currency to the face value of Rs 828. Six life jackets along with photocopies of identity cards issued by the Pakistan fisheries department have also been found.

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The Okha police said a case of crossing the International Maritime Boundary Line has been registered,adding that only photocopies of the identity cards have been produced.

The Navy,Coast Guard,Customs,Intelligence Bureau along with the local police will examine the identity cards. The six have been identified as Mohmaad Rasid (42,boat captain),Latif Khan (45),Mohmad Abdul (28),Mohmaad Haroon (27),Abdul Kadar (18),and Mohmaad Yusuf (18).

Only last week,the Coast Guard had arrested seven crew members on a Pakistani boat. Interrogation,however,revealed that they were Bangladeshis. Earlier,in August,the Border Security Force had arrested nine Pakistanis and seized their boat from the same area. Three of them did not have fishermen’s identity cards.

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